I've prepared countless variations of risotto dishes in the past, but risotto is so versatile that there are always new opportunities for creativity. I prepared a creamy spinach version when Sunny's friend Maia stopped by for dinner recently. I hadn't started making dinner yet and immediately gravitated to the creamy rice dish. I combined Vialone Nano rice, Pecorino cheese, fresh spinach leaves, onions, garlic and a touch of heavy cream.

I haven't hit the gym in a month and I won't be able to get back in the groove any time soon as my schedule is booked from morning 'til late at night. So with holiday season right around the corner, I can already venture a guess as to what my New Year’s resolution will be. Although I’m enjoying food to the fullest, I’ve been trying to (at least) maintain portion control.

Lasagna primavera is a dish I came up with by stacking sheets of lasagna pasta and alternating them with loads of vegetables that were available at the local market. This morning, I found beautiful white button mushrooms, zucchini, onions, carrots and yellow, red and green bell peppers. I couldn't resist preparing a colorful meal.

To ensure the vegetables remained the focal point of the dish, I only added enough béchamel sauce to hold the lasagna together and flavored it with basic herbs such as basil, thyme and oregano and a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese for extra nutty, salty flavor. This may not be a truly authentic lasagna recipe, but it’s delicious and a great way to get fussy eaters to eat their vegetables.

I spent the entire weekend cleaning up our vegetable garden. Even though the weather has been gorgeous in the Bay Area, it really feels like summer is turning into fall.

Today's dish is my attempt to showcase the colors of this season, mixing several kinds of beans. I prepared black eyed peas, French green lentils and butter beans. I soaked them overnight, then sautéed them in shallots and carrots to bring out the natural sweetness of the ingredients. I added blanched green beans at the end and flavored the warm bean salad with a citrus dressing.

I love to bake cookies. And when I have free time, I usually make cookie dough to freeze so whenever we have surprise guests, I have warm cookies freshly baked out of the oven. Today, I prepared a small batch of spritz cookies, which I flavored with cocoa and orange to match the season. These "gâteaux" (cookies in French) were made with brown sugar, so once they're baked, the house is filled with the scent of delicious chocolate-y caramel.

As I've mentioned in the past, baby Aria's eating habits are very similar to my husband’s. She loves sweets. She finished almost half the batch this afternoon before the girls even got back home from school. Naughty girl!

Potato pancakes are delicious and easy to make. The batter consists of potatoes of course, flour, eggs and milk. I often flavor them with a wide variety of vegetables. This is a great way to conceal a nice portion of vegetables, especially if you're trying to feed children who don't like to eat their veggies.

During our stay in Paris, I made these for my parents and my daughter. While Aria loved the potato pancakes, my parents asked “where’s the meat?” What can I say, she loves vegetarian food, just like her dad.